Saturday, April 30, 2011

Lovely Day!

Now that the crazy storms have passed, we're being treated to some beautiful Spring weather. It's been cool, with enough sun to warm things up, some breezes and some puffy clouds for fun.

My work day matched that. My first cat was absolutely adorable! My second cat was a big bruiser of a Himalayan. Both went home looking beautiful and their owners were thrilled. I love delighting cat owners with a perfectly groomed cat. Their cat!

Pictures of both to come soon. My camera is frustrating. While it can take very nice pictures, and has many settings to ensure you can take very nice pictures, it has so many, very precise, settings that I'm pretty much guaranteed to be using it wrong! My grooming space is actually a closet, and seems to throw an amber cast when photographing in it. You may have noticed...


Tomorrow I'm grooming my own kitty (finally!), that's her above. Plus I have a wonderful Domestic Short Hair ready for her summertime shave. This afternoon I got a message from a friend saying she wants to get her cat trimmed, would that be something I would be interested in? Would it ever! I truly love grooming cats. I'm so lucky to have found great teachers, great friends and great clients to be able to turn something I love doing into a career!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Settling In

So I wrote a post about how it's hard to start at a new place, whether an established grooming salon or a new business. It's hard to figure out what to say, how to interact with your co workers and your customers. How everything feels a little fake, kinda like a bad 80s sitcom. Then I tried to explain New Job's usual grooming procedures and how I didn't like them, and why.

It got all complicated and whiny. So I deleted it. I'll probably hit on certain parts of it later, since it's interesting to see how different businesses do things. But not today. Today it just sounds like The New Girl Whining.




This is Mittens. He was my first cat at New Job. He was greasy, dandruff-y and somewhat matted. And greasy. And gross. He smelled bad. He had huge flakes of dandruff just sitting on his coat. And he was really greasy. You didn't want to touch him. You can actually see the clumping coat (from grease and mats) and the dandruff flakes in this picture.

And he lived in someones house. He slept in their bed. He laid on their sofa. Someone loves Mittens. Sure, he's a really nice cat. Friendly, gentle personality. Probably a great companion for his people. But he was also a smelly, greasy, flaky, gross beast.

But they did the right thing and brought him to me to be groomed. I did a Full Belly and Sanitary Clip. I removed the mats. I bathed him 4 times with a degreasing shampoo. A fifth bath with a mild texturizing shampoo. I blew him dry with my beloved Chris Christensen HV dryer. I became covered in dandruff flakes. I trimmed his very long, very thick, very sharp nails and cleaned his waxy ears. I did my final comb through and sent home a handsome cat! Soft and shiny, he smelled pleasant, was silky to the touch, and mat and flake free.



Was Mittens perfect? Unfortunately, no. He had some bare spots from the mats. They'll grow back. He still had some dandruff flakes here and there. His coat wasn't quite as flowing and lovely as it could be. Was he a million times better than when he came in? Oh yeah! Will he look better - the way I *want* him to look - after his next groom? Possibly. If his owners wait and allow him to get as gross as he had been, no, he won't. If his people bring him in before that happens, he'll have a fighting chance. If they bring him in on a regular basis, the correct time frame of 6 - 8 weeks for a long coated cat kept in full coat, he'll improve even more. He'll be perfect. Shiny, flowing coat that is silky to the touch. Healthy, flakeless skin. No excess grease or "chalkiness".

I really hope Mittens becomes a regular. He's a very handsome cat. He's enjoyable to work with. I know his owners love him. I also know he's a big part of their life, and their home. And just like you want your furniture, floors and bedding to be clean and fresh smelling, you want your cat (who will be on all of those things!) to be clean and fresh smelling as well.

That is entirely obtainable with a regular grooming program with a Certified Feline Master Groomer, such as myself! The best part is, you don't even need to do anything at home. Just enjoy your cat and leave the rest to me.

Mittens Before: Greasy, clumpy, kinda Icky!




Mittens After: Soft, silky, touchable!


Friday, April 22, 2011

So Far, So Good

So I've been at my new job for a couple of weeks now, and I'm happy to say it's going really well! I'm working on establishing a routine that works for me. I'm doing things a little differently than how other groomers have done things, but I think it's working out!


That's Hank. He's one of my favorite cats to groom. Shy, but super sweet. I'll tell you Hank's story sometime soon. But for now I need to go and bathe my own cat! She's looking kinda grungy.